Türlü (Turkish) And Pork Shish Kababs

Türlü (Turkish) vegetable ratatouille

Turlu is a preparation from Erzican in eastern Turkey. My Great Grandmother (from my mom’s side) was originally from Turkey and growing up grandpa used to serve this piping hot for the cold (for mexico) weather. You might find this recipe replicated throughout the Mediterranean in one way or another. Turkish turlu is similar to the Provençal ratatouille but instead of using herbs de Provence we use paprika.

Turlu, also called Güveç yaz (summer stew) or Güveç kis (winter stew), is said to be a slang expression for a dish of different foods all artistically combined. Among the Spanish Jews who migrated to Turkey (The Sephardim), the word means “confusion”. In Lebanon, turlu might be calledyakhnat al-khudra (vegetable stew), while in Egypt it is also knownas turli and made with small bits of lamb and mint. In Majorcan cuisine, a dish calledtumbet is very similar to turlu, with the addition of potatoes.. Even in Greece, reflecting its own Turkish domination, the dish known as briami is also called tourlou. From the Yugoslavian part of Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina,Montenegro, and the Dalmatian coast, the same dish appears as djuvec (stew) and sometimes contains mutton.

Turlu is made in an earthenware marmite or a pot called an oya among Turkish jews, probably derived from the Ladino word, the language of the Spanish Jews: in Spain a similar earthenware marmite is called an olla. turlu is usually served with grilled meats, as is the Catalan escalivada and the Majorcan tumbet.

Shish Kebab

The Shish Kebab comes from the turkish Shish (skewer) and Kebab (grilled meat). the Shish Kebabliterary means “gobbets of meat roasted on a spit or skewers”.The true Shish Kebabs (in the Arab world) are made mostly with lamb meat and there are countless preparations as well as marinates. It’s said that the Shish kebab was born over the open-field fires of medieval Turkish soldiers, who used their sowrd to grill meat.

My great grandmother and grandpa

This recipe is a great PALEO VERSION since we substitute milk or yogurt for gin ( to marinate the meat).

We made Pork shish kababs as a side dish to compliment the turlu.This recipe takes a while to prepare (that’s what real food is all about) it requires no cooking skills, everybody can cook it and it is very cheap (we fed about 7 people with about 30 dlls aprox. If you don’t have gin at home you can substitue a white wine, or leave it out all together).

For more affordable and effortless family style recipes visit my blog at Healthygut.net and Afiyet olsun! To read the article in Spanish, go here. Enjoy your meal!

Serves 7 people

Preparation time: 70 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients for the Turlu:

3 onion

3 zuccinis

2 big italian eggplant

half pound okra or 2 small chinese eggplant

1 1/2 pounds of green beans

5 tomatoes

3 bell peppers

2 cloves of garlic (you can add more if you like the garlic taste)

parsley (chopped and to serve)

paprika (about 4 tbsp)

pepper (about 4 tbps)

Ingredients for the Shish Kebab:

WET RUB:

1 large onion

5 key limes (peeled)

1/2 cup of water

1 shot of gin

2 serranos (or 1 habanero for a spicier rub)

DRY RUB (jerk rub):

2 tsp chili powder

1 1/2 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cayenne

pinch of cloves

1 tbsp salt

1 tbsp onion powder

1 tbsp pepper

MEAT:

1 boneless pork shoulder roast

DIRECTIONS:

Mix all wet rub ingredients in blender.

Cut meat into similar pieces about 1 inch by 1 inch cubes

Place meat in deep container and cover with wet rub

Sprinkle dry rub on top using about half per side of meat.

Leave marinade for 30 min, then flip and use rest of dry rub and let sit for another 40 min.

Cut eggpplants in small cubes (about 1 inch by 1 inch)

Place in a sheet and sprinkle with salt

Let sit for 30 min. Once sweating, move to a plate with paper towels and dry them very well.

Chop the onions and garlic, cut tomates and zuccinis in slices, quarter and deseed bell peppers, cut the ends of the green beans and cut in half.

Cover the casseroles and stick them in the oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour

Place cubes of meat in skewers (about 6 in each)

20 minutes before the turlu is done, grill the Shish Kebabs and let them rest for 5 minutes.

Serve hot and sprinkle with fresh parsley.

HOW TO VIDEO:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YW0BMOaito

PLEASE NOTE: In this video I handled the raw meat and touched the blender and mortar but I know from the recipe that nothing else will be used with those utensils until after a good washing. So just like the knife and cutting board which we used in the preparation for the meat, everything I touched while working with the meat got cleaned. This is such a basic part of cooking I chose not to film it.References:A mediterranean feast by Clifford Wright

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